


diagnosis: lovesick

by senkuishigmi



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Confessions, Crushes, First Crush, Fluff, High School AU, Love Letters, M/M, Modern AU, Pining, T rating is just for language, but he's trying his best, other than that it's wholesome, senku is bad at feelings, this ship is ruining my life, very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senkuishigmi/pseuds/senkuishigmi
Summary: senku is coming to terms with his feelings for a certain mentalist. now, he has a new challenge to face: confessing those feelings to gen.(he may be even worse at these things than he thought.)
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Comments: 16
Kudos: 231





	diagnosis: lovesick

Senku and Yuzuriha were seated across from each other at his kitchen table, textbooks open and worksheets scattered in front of them. Both of them free of club meetings for the afternoon, they had walked to his house together for an after school study session while they waited for Taiju to finish sports practice. A short while in, though, Yuzuriha realized that she was the only one actually studying.

"Senku?" she spoke, grabbing her friend's attention, "Is something bothering you?" He looked up from his homework and stared at her blankly for a moment, like he had forgotten all together that she was there.

"I'm fine," he finally responded, "Why?"

"Because we've been working for twenty minutes and you're only on the second question," she said, "I'm almost finished, and you know math is my worst subject."

"Heh. You always see right through me." Senku set down his pencil with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "I haven't really been able to focus lately."

"What's on your mind?" Yuzuriha asked, setting her work aside. She leaned forward, placing both elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands.

"Don't worry about it. It's stupid." Senku leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"If it matters enough to you that it's distracting you from your work, then it's not stupid. Come on, you can tell me."

"Okay, it's not stupid, but it's irrational."

"Does everything  _need_ to be rational?"

Pursing his lips, Senku stared down at his lap. It was quiet for a couple of minutes, quiet enough that he became aware of the humming of the refrigerator behind him. Yuzuriha waited patiently, letting him think.

Finally, he spoke, but instead of an answer, he had a question of his own. "You've liked someone before, right? Romantically, I mean."

"You know the answer to that already," she replied with a little laugh.

"What does it feel like? Like, what are the symptoms?"

"Symptoms?" Yuzuriha laughed, out loud this time, "What symptoms are you experiencing?"

"I never said I was experiencing anything. I asked  _you_ ."

"My experience won't necessarily be the same," Yuzuriha explained, and Senku just stared at her blankly, so she added, "What I'm saying is, the symptoms vary from patient to patient."

"That's not helpful," Senku huffed.

"Come on, Senku, tell me how you're feeling." (Senku faked an over-exaggerated gag at the word  _feeling_ , and Yuzuriha threw her pen at him.) "And tell me who it is! You can't just tell me you have a crush and not tell me who!"

"I never said I had a crush," Senku grumbled, placing the pen back on the table.

"Oh, please."

Senku huffed a second time. Quietly, he said, "Do you know Asagiri Gen? He's a third year at school."

"Ooh, a third year!" Yuzuriha squealed, earning an eye roll from Senku, "Mm, let's see... The name sounds familiar. What does he look like?"

"Half of his hair is bleached white, and the other half is black."

"Oh, I know who you're talking about! I've never talked to him, but he's handsome."

"Yeah, he is," Senku mumbled. He felt his cheeks heat up.

"How did you meet him? Is he in the science club?"

"Well, no. He actually approached me in the library a couple months ago to ask for help with his science homework." Yuzuriha laughed at that. "How did he even know to ask me?" Senku asked.

"Everyone at school knows the mad scientist who wears a lab coat over his uniform every day. And you're not hard to recognize with hair like that."

"I guess." Senku slumped forward and put his head down on the table. "I've been helping him with his science ever since then, and I guess we became friends at some point, because now he sits with me in the library even if he doesn't have science homework. It threw me off at first, but he's fun to talk to, so I don't really mind."

"Doesn't he do magic tricks or something?"

"Yeah," Senku snorted, "He calls himself a mentalist. He's good at it, though, and he wants to go to college for psychology."

"What else do you like about him?" Yuzuriha asked.

"Well, he's a good listener. He lets me talk about my experiments and doesn't interrupt me, even though I know he doesn't know what I'm saying half the time." Yuzuriha nodded, and he continued, "He tells interesting stories, too, and he's thoughtful, and smart. The thing is, most of the reasons I like him are the same reasons I like you and Taiju, or any other friend, but I feel different around Gen, and I don't understand why."

"Is this where those symptoms come in?"

"It is."

"Well, let's here them. Tell Dr. Ogawa what's wrong."

Senku snorted. "Well, I... I get excited whenever I'm around him. When I see him walking towards me my heart starts beating faster. And one time while we were studying, we both reached for the same pen at the same time, and our hands brushed for a second, and my heart was  pounding . I counted 122 beats per minute, compared to my personal average of 76 beats per minute."

"Increased heart rate, especially upon physical contact," Yuzuriha nodded, scribbling something down on a piece of paper, "I see. Go on."

"I worry too much about accidentally saying something stupid to him, and I worry _way_ too much about my appearance when I'm with him. How ridiculous is that? I didn't care one millimeter about things like that before."

Yuzuriha nodded, writing that down as well. (Senku didn't ask why she was making a list, and frankly, he didn't care.)

"I catch myself staring at him a lot, too. He has...  _ really _ blue eyes," Senku's face flushed, "And I like seeing him smile."

Yuzuriha set down her pen. "I think I have enough information to make a diagnosis."

"And?"

"You have a crush on Asagiri Gen."

Senku groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Okay, so how do I make it stop?"

"Why do you want it to stop? Your first crush is exciting!"

"It's a huge distraction from my research," Senku sighed.

"It's only like that now because it's new to you," Yuzuriha said, "You should ask him out. I think it'll be good for you."

"Do you really think there's a chance he'll say yes?"

"Of course, there is. You're a great person, Senku. You're fun to hang out with, and you have such a kind heart, even if you'd rather die than let anyone know that."

"Heh... gross," Senku said, but he was smiling.

"You're welcome," Yuzuriha said, reaching forward to pat his head.

"Would I even be a good boyfriend?" Senku asked. The word  _boyfriend_ made his stomach swirl.  _ Stop it, _ he thought,  _We're not even there yet. We might never be._ And did he even want to go there?  "What if I can't balance all my research and a relationship?"

"You make time for me and Taiju without a problem," Yuzuriha replied, shrugging her shoulders, "Being with Gen won't be any different from hanging out with us, except you would hold hands and stuff."

His heart skipped a beat at the thought of holding hands with Gen. Yuzuriha continued, "Don't worry about it, Senku. You'll figure it out."

"I hope so."

Yuzuriha smiled sweetly. "You know, I never imagined you would have feelings for anything other than science."

Senku laughed nervously. "Yeah, me neither."

*

Senku and Gen's relationship remained the same for a few weeks. They continued to sit together in the school library, studying and laughing together. Every now and then Taiju (who had of course been informed of the situation immediately after Senku and Yuzuriha's conversation) and Yuzuriha would join them, and thankfully, Gen seemed to have earned their stamp of approval. They were just a regular group of friends, and nothing had really changed. Not on the outside, anyway; ever since Yuzuriha's "diagnosis", Senku's mind would shift into overdrive every time he saw Gen.

He became aware of Gen's smallest details, all of his subtle mannerisms. Senku became more aware of his own actions and feelings, as well. He started to realize that he not only wanted to observe Gen, but touch him as well. On more than one occasion he found himself staring into space, thinking of how smooth Gen's skin must be, how soft his hair would feel. When they were together, his eyes would linger on his lips for just a second longer than they should have, before he would catch himself and look away. _Shit_ , he would think, a blush creeping up his cheeks, _Am I really thinking about_ kissing _?_

What was even the point of kissing? Of course, Senku knew all of the reactions that took place when two people shared a kiss, all the wonderful chemicals that were released in the brain. But would it really be all that good in practice? 

His curiosity was getting the best of him, and he often wound up fantasizing about it. Every time he realized just what he was thinking, he wanted to run through a car wash.

He knew it only made sense to tell Gen how he felt. One will never see results if they don't take action, after all - it's only logical. But, unfortunately, this was one of many cases where that was easier said than done. It shouldn't have been; " _Gen, I like you_ ," was all he had to say. Nothing special, just four words, four syllables, that rolled right off the tongue. Senku was a very straightforward person as it was, rarely having any issue speaking his mind. But when he actually tried to say it, he froze up every time without fail. He started sweating, and his heart rate increased ( _109, 110, 111, 112_ , he counted. _112 beats per minute, 36 more than usual_.), and his mind just went blank.

He was a socially awkward person, that was no secret. But he never got nervous like this, and he didn't understand why it was happening now - and he _hated_ not understanding, especially when there was no research to conduct or experiments to perform that would help him find an answer.

He began making excuses, something he normally couldn't stand ( _ What if it ruins our friendship? What if he likes someone else? What if he doesn't even like boys? What if he thinks I'm too young for him? What if I say something stupid? _ ), and Yuzuriha shot down each and every one of them, bringing him back to square one.

Eventually, though, something horrifying occurred to him. _Gen is a mentalist. He's literally an expert at reading people_ , he thought, _He probably_ already knows.

Why hadn't he said anything, then? Was that proof that he didn't feel the same way? Or was he simply waiting for Senku to say it himself?

The scientist's head was spinning. He wanted to scream. (He _did_ scream once or twice, into his pillow, but absolutely nobody ever needed to know that.)

"What should I do?" he asked Yuzuriha over the phone late at night, after explaining his realization.

"Well," she started, "has he been acting any differently around you? Does he seem uncomfortable?"

"No."

"Then if he knows, it seems like he's fine with it."

_ She was right. Of course she was right. _

"Do you... think he _wants_ me to confess?" Senku asked.

"If I knew somebody had a crush on me, I would want them to say so," Yuzuriha replied. (Senku made a mental note to tell Taiju of that statement the next time they spoke.)

"It would be cool if I could do that without having a nervous breakdown."

""Nervous breakdown" is a bit much."

"I am ten billion percent certain I will break out in hives if I try one more time."

"I really think you won't."

"I will pass the fuck out. I will vomit copiously."

"There's a mental image I could have gone without," Yuzuriha laughed under her breath, "If telling him to his face is that scary to you, why don't you write him a letter?"

"A love letter? That is so cheesy."

"Maybe it is. So what?"

Over the next few days, Senku thought it over. What type of thoughts would go through Gen's mind if he found a letter from Senku in his locker? Would he get flustered over it, like Senku always did over him? He tried to picture a rattled Gen with flushed cheeks - what a beautiful sight it would be.

...Fuck it. Senku flipped through a notebook for a clean page, and reached for a pen. For a second, he considered using red ink, but opted for black instead. ( _Red symbolizes romance, right? ...Gross_.)

He didn't even know where to start, and he wrote and rewrote the note about ten billion times. The notebook was filled with his failed attempts at expressing himself (why are feelings so hard?) - he didn't want it to be _mushy_ , but he wanted Gen to fully understand how he felt. It took him a stupid amount of time to find the perfect balance.

After the note was written, he read and reread it several times over the next few days. Taiju and Yuzuriha begged him to let them read it, but he refused. It was too embarrassing. He was having second thoughts about even letting Gen read it, but there was absolutely no way he was going to chicken out when he was this close, and there was no way his friends were going to let him.

Finally, after an entire week had passed, Senku stood in the locker room clutching the piece of paper with both hands. His heart rate was 114 beats per minute, 38 more than usual, as he approached Gen's shoe locker.

"Um, this locker belongs to Asagiri-senpai, right?" he asked, gesturing to it as he turned to another student, an upperclassman, who stood a few feet away in front of his own open locker. Senku was pretty sure his name was Kinro.

"It does," Kinro replied, adjusting his glasses as he turned to look at Senku. Spotting the folded piece of paper in the younger boy's hand, he added, "Do you have a note for him? I can hand it to him for you, if you want."

"N-no! No, thank you," Senku replied, a little too quickly. The thought of accidentally placing the letter in the wrong locker made him want to die, but trusting someone else with it wasn't any better. He opened Gen's locker and held his breath. _Is this really a good idea?_ he thought. Well, maybe not, but it's the best one he had. He unfolded the note one last time, reading over it carefully.

_Gen,_

_I've kept this to myself for a long time, probably too long, because I was too big of a coward to tell you. But, it's pretty clear to me now that these feelings aren't going to go away any time soon, and keeping it a secret is driving me crazy. You know I'm not one to beat around the bush (although I guess I have been lately), so I'll just go ahead and say it. I like you a lot, as more than just a friend. I guess you could say I have a "crush"._

_I don't really understand these feelings. Of course, I know the science behind them. When a human being is attracted to another human being, the brain releases all kinds of chemicals. Dopamine, norepinephrine, endogenous opioids, and all that. What I don't understand is why this is happening to me of all people, who was never supposed to have feelings for anyone or anything other than science. I don't dislike it, though, and I hope you might feel the same. I bet you understand these things better than I do. I always help you learn about science, and maybe this is my chance to learn something from you... I find that exhilarating._

_I hope this doesn't freak you out or mess up our friendship. I don't want things to be awkward between us, but I thought it was time to tell you the truth. Meet me by the camphor tree after school so we can talk._

_Ishigami Senku_

Senku placed the note in Gen's locker. Then, removing his backpack from his shoulders, he dug around until his fingers brushed something cold. Wrapping his fingers around the bottle, he pulled it out and set it in the locker as well, letting it act as a paperweight. He slammed the locker door shut before he could change his mind, and speed walked out of the room.

*

When Senku saw Gen exit the school building, his knuckles turned white around the textbook he was holding against his chest. _Calm down_ , he urged himself, _it's just Gen. You talk to him every single day._

Despite this, his heart skipped a beat when Gen got closer, and Senku saw that he was holding the unfolded letter and the bottle of cola, both in the same hand.

"Senku-chan!" Gen called in his usual cheery voice. Senku used to hate that he referred to him that way, but it had grown on him over time. Now, he couldn't imagine Gen calling him anything else. "How did you know cola was my favorite?" 

_Of course he acknowledges the fucking soda first_ , Senku thought, but he felt his face heat up, and he couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips. "You mentioned it once," he replied sheepishly.

"And you remembered? How sweet."

"It's not a big deal." Senku squeezed his book even tighter. "Did you, um, read the note?"

"I did." Gen smiled. _That stupidly beautiful smile._

"And?"

"And what? You'll have to be more specific, dear Senku," Gen teased, with an over exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. 

_For fucks sake._ Senku raised the textbook he was clutching to hide his flushed face. "Please," he groaned, "if you're going to reject me just do it. I'm embarrassed enough as it is."

"Oh? Why would I ever do that?" 

Senku's breath hitched in his throat as Gen reached out to push the book out of the way. They made eye contact over the top of it, and Senku lost count of how fast his heart was beating. Ten billion beats per minute was his estimate. "W-what did you think when you read the letter?"

"I thought it was unbelievably cute," Gen replied, making Senku cringe, but he continued, "And I was glad you finally found the courage to tell me."

"So you  _ did _ know."

"I did."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to freak you out," Gen explained, "and I was curious to see what you would do."

Senku huffed, earning a laugh from Gen. "I'm really glad you told me," the older boy continued, softly, "It's an honor to be seen in such a way by someone so special."

Senku could have sworn his soul left his body (was he really having thoughts of something so illogical, so unscientific as souls?) and he stood there, dumbfounded, having absolutely no idea what to say.

"Is there anything you want to ask me, Senku-chan?" Gen urged, bringing Senku back to his senses. The younger boy cleared his throat. His face was absolutely on fire.

"Do you, uh," he stammered, in a moment of panic, "want to go on, like, a date? I was thinking we could go to the observatory, unless that's too nerdy for you."

"I would love that," Gen replied simply, with a sweet smile.

"If you want I can show you how to spot all the constellations."

"I'll be looking forward to it." The world stopped turning as Gen leaned in and kissed Senku on the cheek. It was quick, just a sweet little peck, but Senku felt it with his entire being. 

*

(As he walked home, he could feel the lingering sensation of Gen's soft lips against his skin the entire time. His stomach was swirling, and his chest felt tight, but now it was with something other than anxiety.

How exhilarating.)

**Author's Note:**

> yuzuriha: i diagnose you with Gay


End file.
